PAGADIAN CITY – In response to the alarming number of persons infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) in the region, the Department of Health (DOH)-9 has intensified its campaign against this dreadful disease.

In a media forum held at Guillermo Hotel here Thursday, Michael Magallanes Oral, HIV provincial assistant coordinator of DOH-9, discussed thoroughly the causes, status and preventive measures of HIV AIDS before the media practitioners together with the medical staff of the city and the municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte.

HIV is a kind of virus that destroys the natural defence of an individual against various diseases while AIDS, on the other hand, is a chronic disease acquired by a person through sexual intercourse with an individual infected with HIV, Oral explained.

HIV is different from AIDS, because the latter pertains to the health condition of a person infected or who acquired such disease, and with this condition he or she will be inflicted with various illnesses that will eventually cause death, Oral said.

“No one dies on HIV or AIDS,” Oral emphasized “an infected person die because of complications of different diseases or different kind of infections such as; kaposis-sarcoma, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer but the common infection are tuberculosis and phneumonia.”

“It does not mean also that if a person has TB, he is already infected with AIDS or HIV positive,” Oral said.

Meanwhile, there are 71 persons found with asymptomatic HIV positive in Zamboanga del Sur. These people were not all tested positive here in Pagadian City or province, but others were tested in other cities using Zambonga del Sur as their home province address, Oral disclosed.

On the other hand, Pagadian City alone has 18 confirmed HIV positive individuals. The oldest person is 36 years old based in the city and the youngest is 4 years old child, who is breastfed by an HIV positive mother.

In the entire country, according to DOH statistics, in every one and half hour a person is found positive with HIV. Totalling it all, in a day there are 28 individuals found positive with such disease. And out of nine countries in the South East Asia, the Philippines now ranks number one on HIV AIDS cases, Oral disclosed.

With the present disturbing situation, DOH asked the media practitioners to help the department in disseminating the exact and correct information, prevention and transmission on HIV AIDS to the vulnerable populace.